What actions should HR and business leaders take to curb mental harassment at work? Share your thoughts.
"For me, one thing was clear even before we saw it coming, why should my wife bear all the burden? She has been in so much pain."
“For me, one thing was clear even before we saw it coming, why should my wife bear all the burden? She has been in so much pain.”
I was listening to the experiences of a new dad this morning, who has a two-month-old baby girl.
The couple is inn a nuclear setup, with extended family in Bihar. The baby was born right at the time when the second wave of COVID had started to create havoc in Delhi, and they had to manage everything on their own without the help of any other family member/ house help.
The baby was born by C-section, after which the mother also had a few post-delivery infections. As a result of this, the post-partum recovery was difficult and quite slow. Circumstances pushed the father to take charge of every single chore at home, as well as responsibility of taking care of baby equally.
“It must have been difficult,” I ask.
“Yes, it has been exhausting managing the chores, cooking, cleaning, washing and taking care of baby. I couldn’t have let my wife take the toll of it post-delivery,” he replied.
“For me, one thing was clear even before we saw it coming, why should my wife bear all the burden? She has been in so much pain. It would have been so unfair to expect anything else from her but exactly what was important – taking care of herself and the baby.”
A big push has been the organisation supporting new dads for a 6-month paternity leave. The father had initially applied for 15-day paternity and then extended it for a month, and now doesn’t plan to go back before 6 months.
“My mother urges me regularly to stop doing the chores. And that my wife should be the one taking care of this stuff. She often tries to corner me and pushes me to think if I have ever seen any male around me doing all the chores as I am doing now.
But I fail to understand how as a woman she can’t empathise with another woman. We have very heated arguments about it many times, but that’s ok.”
He laughs and continues,
“It’s such a joy when you think equally and do what needs to be done without getting into the trap of log kya kahenge or various societal fears.”
Absolutely.
The conversation left me with so much positivity and hope.
Breaking gender stereotypes, challenging the status quo, taking ownership and responsibility equally as a parent and a gender just setup as an organisation.
The change isn’t impossible but has to be systemic and cultural, but unfortunately at large our systems have fed and continue feeding discrimination and inequalities through sloppy policies.
Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 advocates 26 weeks paid leave; however, there is no paternity law, just an allowance as per Central Civil service for 15 days of paid paternity leave. A few trailblazer organizations are leading the way, but it is still an exception rather than a norm.
Can we expect a transformation in the attitude towards childcare and gender unless we fix this?
Can we push for an equal paternity leave advocated as a govt mandate as an ask in the next elections?
Image source: TryJimmy at pixabay
Present - India Lead - Education, Charter for Compassion, Co-Author - Escape Velocity, Writer & Social Activist. Past - DU, Harvard, Telecoms-India and abroad read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
I wanted to scream with excitement that my daughter chose to write about her ambition and aspirations over everything else first. To me, this was one of those parenting 'win' moments.
My daughter turned eight years old in January, and among the various gifts she received from friends and family was an absolutely beautiful personal journal for self-growth. A few days ago, she was exploring the pages when she found a section for writing a letter to her future self. She found this intriguing and began jotting down her thoughts animatedly.
My curiosity piqued and she could sense it immediately. She assured me that she would show me the letter soon, and lo behold, she kept her word.
I glanced at her words, expecting to see a mention of her parents in the first sentence. But, to my utter delight, the first thing she had written about was her AMBITION. Yes, the caps here are intentional because I want to scream with excitement that my daughter chose to write about her ambition and aspirations over everything else first. To me, this was one of those parenting ‘win’ moments.
Uorfi Javed has been making waves through social media, and is often the target of trolls. So who and what exactly is this intriguing young woman?
Uorfi Javed (no relation to Javed Akhtar) is a name that crops up in my news feeds every now and again. It is usually because she got trolled for being in some or other ‘daring’ outfit and then posting those images on social media. If I were asked, I would not be able to name a single other reason why she is famous. I am told that she is an actor but I would have no frankly no clue about her body of work (pun wholly unintended).
So is Urfi Javed (or Uorfi Javed as she prefers) famous only for being famous? How does she impact the cause of feminism by permitting herself to be objectified, trolled, reviled?
Please enter your email address